Women 11th, Men 15th in National RR
At the end of a long and draining winter season in which both our men’s and women’s distance squads have produced some excellent results, both had to be content with placings in the teens at Saturday’s National 12- and 6-Stage Road Relays at Sutton Park near Birmingham.
Both the teams we fielded were essentially good league teams rather than championship line-ups, and it was pleasing to see our regular CC league athletes getting so close to the best 10 in Britain. While Jodie Swallow and Hywel Care were the team’s stand-out individuals, the results were very much team affairs as our colours were defended with great pride.
Men’s resultsTimes seemed slower across the board. The race was run on the hottest day of the year so far and, as such, athletes have had no opportunity to adjust from winter conditions.
Women
Kat Gundersen, the team’s most consistent performer over the season, led the team out and came in 29th on leg 1 (all legs being 4.835K in distance), from which point we progressed through the field on each stage. Her time of 18.24 compared with 2009’s 18.42, but she said she felt uninspired and in need of a couple of weeks’ break. Rachel Lund, sometimes an unsung hero, has contributed hugely throughout the season and her 19.02 on leg 2 was good enough to pass four teams and leave us 25th.
Maggie Powell was drafted into the team late and responded with a very good time of 18.41 which bodes well as she aims to improve her marathon PB from 3:24 to around 3.15 in next week’s “London”. That left us 21st at halfway. Diana Kennedy took over and clocked 19.24, passing the team from “Cadbury Village”, Bournville Harriers, in the process, but bring us to within touching distance of a big bunch of clubs.
Lauren Stewart took full advantage as she steamed around in 17.56 and passed 8 clubs, leaving us 12th. Stewart is another who will be on the line in the London next Sunday, aiming at improving her 2.51 PB and dipping under 2 hours 50. Anchor runner Jodie Swallow, the ITU World Long Distance Triathlon Champion, ran a fast 17.20, but Winchester were the only club she was only able to pass.
The women had gone into the race with a predicted team time of around 1 hour 50 minutes and position of around 15th. Their actual time was 1:50:47, which would only have got them 16th in 2009, but the standard is currently varying significantly from year to year for no apparent reason.
44 teams closed this year, including several B teams. The race was won by Aldershot, with our Met League opponents Shaftesbury 9th, Serpentine 13th and Met Police 26th. We were the only Essex club represented.
Manager Alex Wardle said, “It’s been a great season for us, winning the Southern CC title and the Met League. And today rounded it off in a very satisfactory way, finishing so high with many of our Met League regulars. Thanks to everyone who has helped make it a historic season!”
Men
Various predictions had the men finishing around 15th with a team time of around 4 hours 20 minutes. In reality, we ran much slower but it was nonetheless good enough for that 15th place.
Hywel Care got us off to a very good start on the first long leg (8.692K/5.4 miles) as he came in 15th of 71 men in running 27.01, which is his second-fastest on this course behind his 26.52 in 2007 while with York Acorn AC.
On leg 2, Tim Prendergast had a tough task. He had been put on leg 2 due to his impaired (5%) eyesight, reasoning that there would be plenty of runners around him. But, oddly, there was a 23” gap in front of him when he started off, so he ran over a mile without seeing anyone. Subsequently he suspected he may have run too fast too quickly (perhaps especially as he recently competed over 1500m in New Zealand), because then runners started passing him. In the end, he ran 15.39 compared with 15.21 last year, and we dropped to 22nd.
On leg 3 Matt Barnes-Smith repaired much of the damage in running 27.48 to put us in 16th. Nonetheless, he felt empty as he had not run all week after returning from the USA with food poisoning. Darren Southcott made his A team relay debut on stage 4 with a late call-up, and his run was always going to be about damage limitation. A time of 16.55 only lost us 4 places, and Southcott has a marker for future years.
Kevin Murphy, as he has done for 20 years, responded to the team’s needs and did his best on the long stage 5. His 29.33 reflected his current mediocre level of fitness, and we dropped back to 25th as some classy men passed him. But then Omar Mansour, who ran so well at the Southern 12-stage at Milton Keynes last month, turned in another powerful run of 15.21 to grab back 3 places. He would have liked to have more men to aim at, but the unfortunate reality of the relay championships these days is that the gaps tend to be large, so all athletes must be prepared to bite the bullet and run very hard, even with nobody in sight to aim at.
Angus Holford, as always, stepped up and accepted a long leg because that is what the team needed, although he would no doubt have shone more brightly on a short leg. His run of 30.39 saw him passed by 3 men so we were back to 25th. Now Holford has a long stage marker for future years when he may be called on. Craig Berg, who came up through the Woodford ranks with Holford as a teenager, opted for a short leg because he planned to run the British Universities 10,000m in a fortnight’s time and wanted some quick leg turnover. However, his 15.50 disappointed him and he left the arena reconsidering his plan.
Daniel Agustus on leg 9 set off with us still in 25th, but his 27.59 took us into 21st. Though it was 4 seconds faster than he ran in 2009, Agustus admitted that he had not set the earth alight - "just one of those days". On stage 10, Gavin Lewis had missed quite a bit of training recently with a calf problem which explained him running 20” slower than in 2009, but he passed 2 men in running 15.50 to put us in 19th.
Bertie Powell, winner of the men’s winter consistency trophy for the 5th year in succession, had a good run, particularly around the lake where he poured it on for the benefit of the Woodford supporters, and passed Salford and Hallamshire. Moreover his 27.44 closed gaps on teams in front to give anchor man Matt Shone something to aim at. (the next morning Powell won the Newham Classic 10K in a PB of 31.45).
Club legend Shone might normally have been put on a long leg, but early in the week he was feeling like a zombie due to missed sleep and his law studies. By Saturday, however, he felt ready to attack at least part of his 3-mile leg, and he soon passed both Morpeth and Sale. Then, though, he needed a breather and in so doing his chances of catching the next club, who were still out of sight, evaporated. Despite another late charge and the team’s quickest short stage of the day, 15.17, we finished 15th, 12 seconds down on Altrincham.
The race was won by Newham. Serpentine were again the best of our Met League competitors, in 24th, with Hillingdon 30th, Thames Valley 36th, Shaftesbury 38th and Garden City 51st. No other Essex clubs have contested the regional or national 12-stage races. We were actually 12th English club, as we were beaten by Shettleston (Glasgow, 3rd), Swansea (7th) and Cardiff (10th).
Team manager Terry McCarthy explained, “This year we peaked before the relay season, having a fine Southern CC, a great National CC, and pinching the league title. But some top lads then picked up injuries – hopefully they will be back for the track season. 15th, though, was a fine result for us and achieved with a lot of young lads who the club has developed. It’s always rewarding to see a team-sheet like that.”